Testing And Related Discussions In Software

Communication

It’s taken a while for me to digest and understand the impact of attending MEWT a couple of weeks ago now. I normally try and blog quickly after an event, whilst my memory, notes and personal response are fresh. In this case, I haven’t been able to do so.

Visiting a conference or attending a few track talks and workshops is an exciting experience. There is always an opportunity to learn more about a technical skill, tools and current thinking around testing. Never before have I been able to learn very much about myself as a tester, and as a human being than I did at MEWT.

Set in the fabulous surroundings of the Attenborough nature reserve in Nottingham, MEWT (Midlands Exploratory Workshop in Testing) is a very intimate workshop day hosted by Richard Bradshaw, Vernon Richards, Bill Matthews and Simon Knight. I felt extremely privileged to be invited to attend, so I wanted to ensure that the content I provided was both pertinent to the topic and expressed my personal challenges with communication, some of which I will talk about here.

The Attenborough nature reserve, Nottingham

My talk was Communication, Influence and the Geek, the slides for which are available from the MEWT website.

During my time on this planet, and latterly as a software tester, I have encountered a few challenges to communication. Being a geek, which to some is a pejorative term for someone who has a deep interest in science, technology, certain hobbies or non mainstream culture; can present certain problems for folk who identified as such, or who have been labelled as such by others.

The Dalek Supreme in “The Stolen Earth/Journeys End” in BBC TV’s Doctor Who

Communication is an exchange of ideas and viewpoints, as much as it is about information and facts. Its about disecting and evaluating the information that is presented to you in the context of the emotional feedback you have to it. Testing, in my view, is partly an expression of that.

In deep debate at MEWT

I won’t dwell too much on my personal experiences here, because they are not for this place. However, the feedback from the peers that I met and worked with at MEWT was greatly positive, and nourishing. It has fed my desire to learn more about my craft, and support others who wish to learn more. Whilst we should be mindful not to label ourselves, allow ourselves to get pigeon holed by how either society, others and even our own prejudices, it is important to recognise and play to your own strengths.

Simon, Vernon, Christian and Christopher

The environment created at MEWT allows professional, non judgemental, challenging but friendly debate around the ideas and thinking generated during the day. Ahead of this session I was terribly nervous about sharing some of my deepest thoughts and feelings on the problems I have faced as a tester. I am not sure I could have put all this out in the open in any other conference or workshop.

Dorothy Graham

Raji Bhamidipati

This was a message that has been impressed upon me not only by the MEWT attendees, but also a number of my colleagues, to whom I will always be grateful. One point was made to me, and that was to not be afraid to embrace the influence that my personal interests and idiosyncracies have upon my approach to testing. They make me who I am, and it is that allows me to add value to my employer and those around me.

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Dan Billing

I'm a software test engineer of 17 years, and recently I decided to go it alone as a consulting tester, founding my company The Test Doctor Limited.
I love testing and all its wondrous variety. I like to help others become better testers by attending events, speaking, blogging and giving training.
Most of my current work focuses on testing strategy across the whole of the clinical trials suite that we build. This includes any kind of testing, from UI, API, performance, security, mobile etc. Whatever needs to happen.
I'm also building on the training, coaching and learning I've picked up elsewhere, and bringing that into my new team.
I enjoy running workshops and speaking, especially in the technical testing and security space; and to a lesser extent the psychology of what testers do.
Hopefully, It'll make me a better tester too!